Category: Humor

SOHCAHTOA

Years ago, when I first taught Precalculus at the college level, I was starting a section on trigonometry by reminding my students of the acronym SOHCAHTOA for keeping the trig functions straight:

\sin \theta = \displaystyle \frac{\hbox{Opposite}}{\hbox{Hypotenuse}},

\cos \theta = \displaystyle \frac{\hbox{Adjacent}}{\hbox{Hypotenuse}},

\tan \theta = \displaystyle \frac{\hbox{Opposite}}{\hbox{Adjacent}}.

At this point, one of my students volunteered that a previous math teacher had taught her an acrostic to keep these straight: Some Old Hippie Caught Another Hippie Tripping On Acid.

Needless to say, I’ve been passing this pearl of wisdom on to my students ever since.

10 Secret Trig Functions Your Math Teachers Never Taught You

Students in trigonometry are usually taught about six functions:

\sin \theta, \cos \theta, \tan \theta, \cot \theta, \sec \theta, \csc \theta

I really enjoyed this article about trigonometric functions that were used in previous generations but are no longer taught today, like \hbox{versin} \theta and \hbox{havercosin} \theta:

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/roots-of-unity/10-secret-trig-functions-your-math-teachers-never-taught-you/

Naturally, Math With Bad Drawings had a unique take on this by adding a few more suggested functions to the list. My favorites:

Severe Weather Protocol During State Testing

Here in Texas, it’s the start of tornado season as well as the start of high-stakes testing season, so it’s important for teachers to know what to do if the two events should overlap. (Source: http://suzyred.com/takstestprotocol.html)

  1. Should a severe weather situation occur during testing, please remain calm. To display any kind of anxiety would be a testing irregularity and must be reported.
  1. Please do not look out the window to watch for approaching tornadoes. You must monitor the students at all times. To do otherwise would be a testing irregularity and must be reported.
  1. Should students notice an approaching tornado and begin to cry, please make every effort to protect their testing materials from the flow of tears and sinus drainage.
  1. Should a flying object come through your window during testing, please make every effort to ensure that it does not land on a testing booklet or an answer sheet. Please make sure to soften the landing of the flying object so that it will not disturb the students while testing.
  1. Should shards of glass from a broken window come flying into the room, have the students use their bodies to shield their testing materials so that they will not be damaged. Have plenty of gauze on hand to ensure that no one accidentally bleeds on the answer documents. Damaged answer sheets will not scan properly.
  1. Should gale force winds ensue, please have everyone stuff their test booklets and answer sheets into their shirts….. being very careful not to bend them because bent answer documents will not scan properly.
  1. If any student gets sucked into the vortex of the funnel cloud, please make sure they mark at least one answer before departing. And of course make sure they leave their answer sheets and test booklets behind. You WILL have to account for those.
  1. Should a funnel cloud pick you, the test administrator, up and take you flying over the rainbow, you will still be required to account for all of your testing materials when you land. So…..please take extra precautions. Remember…..once you have checked them out, they should never leave your hands.
  1. When rescue workers arrive to dig you out of the rubble, please make sure that they do not, at any time, look at or handle the testing materials. Once you have been treated for your injuries, you will still be responsible for checking your materials back in. Search dogs will not be allowed to sift through the rubble for lost tests, unless of course they have been through standardized test training.
  1. Please do not pray should a severe weather situation arise. Your priority is to actively monitor the test and a student might mark in the wrong section if you are praying instead of monitoring. I’m sure God will put war, world hunger, crime, and the presidential primaries on hold until after testing is over. He knows how important this test is.